Consulate Review: Juarez, Mexico
Review Topic: K1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
June 28, 2013 |
| Embassy Review : |
My fiancé had his visa interview in Juarez on June 26th and ¡¡¡he was approved!!!
First, general observations about the experience:
- After doing all of the work it takes to reach the day of the interview, now it's really just a matter of showing up on time and following instructions. (And dealing with nervousness…)
- Some of the people you'll encounter working at the Consulate and health clinics are fairly brusque and in a bad mood, but it isn't personal; just respond calmly and pleasantly and it'll be fine.
- I knew Juarez was the desert, but I didn't realize quite how that feels, at least at this time of year. Dress appropriately, drink lots of water and look for shade!
- To prevent having to dig around for papers, my fiancé had a separate folder with his passport, letter of invitation, DS-260 confirmation sheet, payment confirmation, and ASC appt./Consulate appt. confirmation sheet, so he could just show it at the door at each appointment, and it definitely made life easier.
- The USC does a lot of sitting and waiting; it helps to bring snacks, water, and stuff to do. Being able to listen to music and read made the time go by faster for me.
Our specific experience:
Sunday: We flew in from Mexico City. We were lucky to be able to stay with a friend, but there are lots of hotels really close to the Consulate. The consulate, health clinics, and mall (which is the main air-conditioned option for food and entertainment in the area) are all in a really short of walk of each other.
Monday: As is fairly common in Mexico, the letter of invitation to schedule the interview never arrived, so the first step was going to the consulate information window for a copy. Since we were the first people there, we easily ignored the guys who were hanging out in the area (presumably to tell us where to go in exchange for tips) and asked the police on the far side of the building where to go. The information window is located on the long side of the Consulate building and opens at 7:30 am. We got there at 5:30 am and were the first people waiting, but within twenty minutes a long line had formed. At around 6:15 am, a woman came out from the building to open the area and to divide people into different lines.
When we told her that we needed the letter, she asked us why the letter hadn’t arrived. We explained that we didn’t know and had been waiting for it for eight weeks, and she let my fiancé go up to wait in front of the window. I had to go over to the white tables next to the consulate to wait. The window opened on time, he showed his DS-260 confirmation sheet, and within 5 minutes he had the letter.
Hoping to do everything in one day, we had scheduled the ASC appt. for mid afternoon, so we ran over to the health clinic on the corner where we had seen a long line forming even at 5:30 am when we arrived to the area. He showed the guard his passport and letter and got in at 7:45 am, and I went around back to the “waiting area” tent, which has fans and water misting to keep it relatively cool. The person working in the waiting area has bathroom passes to get into the clinic. Most likely because the line had started so early, it took 5 ½ hours for him to get through the whole medical exam (most of the time spent waiting), so it probably helps if you can get there earlier. Also, if you don’t have tattoos and are considering getting one, wait until after the medical exam- apparently everyone with tattoos was sent to the clinic psychologist after the physical.
Once in the health clinic, you’re directed each step of the way. First my fiancé got in line for a number, had his photo taken and was given a paper bracelet with a barcode and colored stickers depending on the type of visa and necessary tests. Then he went for the eye test, after which everyone was divided by gender and sent to do the blood test, the chest x-ray and the medical exam, for which he had to take off everything but underwear and socks (and pull down the underwear briefly). The female doctor who examined him asked my fiancé several questions about his health history, including whether he had a history of cancer or diabetes, any bullet wounds, or had tried cocaine or marijuana. He answered no, and had the question about using drugs repeated several times, before being told that if he were lying it would show up in the urine sample. He just continued answering politely and calmly and it was fine. The doctor for this part decides if each person needs to go to the psychologist.
Next he was sent to the vaccine area, although he had previously been told he didn’t need vaccines for the K-1 visa. They refused to fill out the paperwork and just gave him the receipt for the exam and sent him to the urine sample, which he said was supervised through a window. After that he went to pay. He brought enough money with him, but otherwise he could have asked them to call me in the waiting area to pay (the waiting area guard has a walkie-talkie and then calls out names of people to go to the clinic). When he paid they gave him back his papers and passport and told him to come back 2 hours later for the results. He was worried that with the ASC appt. he wouldn’t make it in time, but they told him he could stop by 2 ½ hours later if necessary.
We ran to the mall for a quick lunch before he went to the ASC appt. He said that they go by their own clock, so he had to wait outside for his 3:10 pm time until 3:30 pm, when they called people from his time group. He showed his papers (letter of invitation, 260 confirmation, etc.) and he went inside where they took his fingerprints and a photo and put a sticker on his DS-260 sheet with the time of his interview written on it. He needed this sheet to get into the interview, so it’s important to have on hand. The whole ASC appt. took about 20 minutes and he was able to go back to the clinic for his results on time. He showed his clinic payment receipt and passport to go in and came out with a sealed black envelope he had to hand in at the interview as well.
Tuesday: Day off, since we had gotten the letter and he went to the clinic and the ASC on Monday. Otherwise, we would have gone even earlier to get into the health clinic.
Wednesday: Interview day! They had told him at the ASC to get to the consulate 30 minutes before his interview time of 7:15 am. We arrived at around 6:30 am and went into the waiting room around the side of the consulate. The waiting room has a small convenience store stand in the middle and a bathroom that charges 5 pesos to go in. He showed his DS-260 confirmation with the sticker from ASC, the letter of invitation, the payment confirmation, passport and his sealed medical results, and they stamped the DS-260 and let him go through to the consulate. Before entering the consulate, the guard made sure he had the form stamped and didn’t have a cell phone, anything metal, drinks/food, etc. before letting him in. My fiancé was in the consulate for 3 hours.
First he was given a number and told to go to a waiting area in a tent with fans. He says that you have to pay really close attention because the numbers don’t appear in order and when the number appears in the list on the screen you have three chances to go in to the window before it disappears and you’ve lost your chance at an interview and have to reschedule for another day. When his number appeared he went to the window to hand in all of the forms and the sponsor information (he gave the folder to the person at the window who took out what he needed) and sign the DS-156 form. There was more room in the inside waiting area so he sat there and waited until the number appeared again, when he went to a window for the interview. He says that the interviewer greeted him and seemed nice and spoke Spanish well. In addition to pulling out the photos we sent in with the I-129f packet and asking my fiancé to identify the people in them and the places where they were taken, he asked the following questions:
• His full name
• Where he’s from
• Where we met
• When we met
• What he does for a living (he’s an artist) and what kind of art (then my fiancé pulled out a brochure from his current exhibit to show to the CO)
• If he’s had trouble with police or with drugs
• If he has tattoos
• If either of us had been married before
• If he has kids
• What I do for a living
• Where I’m from
• Where I currently live
• If I came to Juarez with him (my fiancé offered to go to the waiting room to get me, but the CO told him that it wasn’t necessary)
• He repeated the question about whether he’d had problems with police or drugs before
• If I speak Spanish
• If he had previously been in the U.S.
• Where his visa from that trip was in his passport
At that point the CO crossed out that visa in his passport, said “congratulations”, and to expect the visa to arrive in 1-2 weeks.
We couldn’t have gotten this far without all of the amazing resources and advice from VisaJourney, so thank you everyone! |
| Rating : |
Good |
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ver 5.0